Upholstered chair

ABSTRACT

A chair is provided with an upholstery cover which is held in place by fasteners which are concealed from view. The edges of the cover are folded back and sewn or otherwise secured to provide sleeves which receive rods, and the cover is pulled over the sides of the chair and evenly stretched by the rods which are held by a plurality of fasteners secured to the underside of the chair.

United States Patent [72] Inventors Chester J. Barecki;

Arthur J. Hogan, Jr., both of Grand Rapids,Mich. 211 AppLNo. 781,020. 1221 Filed Dec.4,l968

[45] Patented June 22, 1971 [73] Assignee American Seating Company Grand Rapids, Mich.

[54] UPHOLSTERED CHAIR 2 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

52 us. 01 297/219, 297/457 511 Int. Cl *A47C 3/00, A476 7/02 5/3531;

[50] Field of Search 297/218, 2l9, 454-458 [56] References Cited uumzo STATES PATENTS 2,096,322 10/1937 Oldham 5/3531 2,120,036 6/1938 Northup... 5/3531 2,738,835 3/1956 Eames 297/456 3,393,941 7/1968 Crosfillex 297/4s7x Primary Examiner-Casmir A. Nunberg Attorney-Dawson, Tilton, Fallon & Lungmus ABSTRACT: A chair is provided with an upholstery cover which is held in place by fasteners which are concealed from view. The edges of the cover are folded back and sewn or otherwise secured to provide sleeves which receive rods, and the cover is pulled over the sides of the chair and evenly stretched by the rods which are held by a plurality of fasteners secured to the underside of the chair.

UPHOLSTERED CHAIR BACKGROUND This invention relates to an upholstered chair, and, more particularly, to a chair which is provided with an upholstery cover which is evenly stretched, wrinkle-free, and neatly held in place by fasteners which are concealed from view.

The use of molded, integral plastic shell-type chairs has become increasingly popular in recent years. However, many users prefer a more decorative appearance than that given by the plain plastic shell. Further, if the chair is provided with a cushion, it is desirable that the cushion be covered to improve the appearance of the chair.

Problems have arisen, however, in covering shell chairs with upholstery. The upholstery cover should be securely attached to the chair so that it will not be inadvertently removed, but at the same time the cover should be removable without too much difficulty, since it may eventually become worn or ripped. Further, the cover should be evenly stretched as it is placed over the chair to eliminate wrinkles and improve ap pearance.

SUMMARY The invention enables a chair to be quickly and neatly covered with an upholstery cover. Stretcher rods are secured to the cover around its edge, and the cover is attached by pulling the rods around the underside of the chair and inserting them into the fasteners secured to the chair. Once the cover is attached, the fasteners are hidden from view, and an aesthetically pleasing appearance is provided. If the cover becomes worn, it may be readily removed merely by disengaging the stretcher rods from the fasteners.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an upholstered chair;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the under surface of the chair of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the upper portion of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to FIG. 4 but taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of one of the fasteners; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a modified fastener.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawing, the numeral 10 designates generally an upholstered chair having a back portion 11 and a seat portion 12. The chair 10 includes a conventional molded nylon shell 13 and a foam pad 14. An upholstery cover 15 completely covers the upper surface of the chair.

The generally L-shaped integral shell 13 also. includes a back portion 16 and a seat portion 17 which may be somewhat dished or depressed as at 18. As can be seen best in FIG. 2, the shell 13 may include strengthening ribs 19 on the under surface of the shell.

The foam pad 14 is cemented to the shell and is trimmed to overlap the edges of the shell. Referring to FIG. 4, the upper rear portion 20 of the pad overlaps the rear edge 21 of the shell 13 and is cemented thereto. The remainder of the periphery or edge of the shell is similarly covered by the pad.

Referring to FIG. 3, the upper portion of the shell and pad extend rearwardly to provide a top wall 22 having an edge 23, the front forward portion of the shell and pad extend downwardly to provide front wall 24 having a bottom edge 25, and the shell and pad extend downwardly from the seat portion 12 and rearwardly from the back portion 11 of the chair to provide generally L-shaped sidewalls 26 and side edges 27.

The cover 15 is shaped to conform generally to the contour of the upper surface of the chair provided by the pad 14 and extends over the edges of the chair. The periphery of the cover 5 jacent the top edge 23 of the chair, a-front stretcher rod 31 is inserted into the sleeveportion which extends adjacent the bottom edge 25 of the chair, and generally L-shaped side stretcher rods 32 are inserted into each of the sleeve portions which extend adjacent the opposite generally L-shaped side edges 27 of the chair.

The rods are pulled along the under surface of the chair to uniformly stretch the cover and are held in place by a plurality of fasteners 33 which are secured to the under surface of the shell 13 along the top wall 22, front wall 24, and sidewalls 26. Referring to FIG. 6, the fasteners 33 includes a relatively flatattaching portion 34 and a generally hook-shaped retaining portion 35. The attaching portion 34 is provided with a rivet opening 36 and includes a pair of prongs 37 for anchoring the fastener against rotation. Referring to FIG. 5, the fasteners 33 are pop riveted to the shell 13 by rivets 38 before the pad 14 and cover 15 are placed over the shell.

We have found that three fasteners are sufficient to hold each of the L-shaped side stretcher rods 32, and we provide a fastener 33a on the seat portion of the shell spaced from the front thereof and a pair of fasteners 33b and 330 on the back portion of the shell, with the fastener 33c being spaced from the top of the shell. The top stretcher rod 30 is held by a pair of spaced-apart fasteners 33d and 33c, and the front stretcher rod 31 is held by fasteners 33f and 33g.

The cover is positioned by first cementing the cover to the pad 14 in the area of the depressed seat portion 18. Thereafter, the stretcher rods are pulled over their associated edges of the chair, and the cover is stretched until the rods snap into place between the hooked-shaped retaining portions 35 of the fasteners and the under surface of the shell. Referring to FIG. 5, the rod 30 is fastened by first pulling the rod and cover forwardly over the hooked portions of the fasteners 33d and 33c and then inserting the rod between the hooked portion and the shell. The other rods are similarly secured, and the cover 15 completely covers and conceals the fasteners 33, leaving only a smooth edge 43 of the upholstery cover visible from the rear of the chair.

Referring to FIG. 6, the hooked portion 35 of each fastener 33 may include a pair of spurs 39 which press into the fabric and anchor the stretcher rods in the hooked-shaped portion, and the pointed prongs 37 of the fasteners engage the shell 13 to prevent the fasteners from rotating. If desired, a modified fastener 40 (FIG. 7) may be used without the prongs 37 and spurs 39. The fastener 40 includes only an attaching flange 41 and a hook-retaining portion 42 under which the stretcher rods are inserted.

The upholstery cover can be readily removed merely by pulling the stretcher rods from between the fasteners and the shell.

While in the foregoing specification, a specific embodiment of the invention was set forth in considerable detail for the purpose of illustration, it is to be understood that many of the details hereingiven may be varied considerably by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of our invention.

We claim:

1. In combination, a chair shell providing a seat and back, said back having at its top a rearwardly extending and generally horizontal top wall, and said back and seat having L- shaped sidewalls, hooks in the bottom of said top wall, vertical fastening means for said hooks extending through said top wall, hooks on the inner surfaces of said sidewalls, horizontal fastening means for said last-mentioned hooks extending through said sidewalls, and an upholstery cover shaped to conform generally to the contour of the chair and having edge portions extending over the top and side edges of the chair to the undersurfaces thereof and equipped with rods engaging said hooks, said upholstery cover overlying a resilient foam pad cemented to the top portion of said seal and forward portion of said back.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which said shell has a 

1. In combination, a chair shell providing a seat and back, said back having at its top a rearwardly extending and generally horizontal top wall, and said back and seat having L-shaped sidewalls, hooks in the bottom of said top wall, vertical fastening means for said hooks extending through said top wall, hooks on the inner surfaces of said sidewalls, horizontal fastening means for said last-mentioned hooks extending through said sidewalls, and an upholstery cover shaped to conform generally to the contour of the chair and having edge portions extending over the top and side edges of the chair to the undersurfaces thereof and equipped with rods engaging said hooks, said upholstery cover overlying a resilient foam pad cemented to the top portion of said seat and forward portion of said back.
 2. The structure of claim 1 in which said shell has a downwardly turned front wall with hooks on the inner surface thereof and in which said cover at its forward edge has a rod engaging said hooks. 